Charlie let two days pass. They seemed to pass in the blink of an eye, but maybe that made sense, considering how hard she was trying to keep herself busy and distracted. Even her extra time before work—being driven to work was a hell of a lot faster than walking to work—seemed to pass in a flash.
(Sam never complained, which was a plus. Charlie needed to think of something to do to thank her properly, but she was drawing a blank at that moment.)
Her coworkers, accustomed to her walking to work, were confused at first and when she explained the mugging story, they were all so outraged and worried on her behalf, despite the fact that she was fine. Her job may not have paid amazingly well, but she did like her coworkers and her boss, and even most of the restaurant’s regulars. She almost felt bad about lying to them about what actually happened. Almost. She wasn’t in any sort of hurry for them to decide she was crazy, though, so she kept the true details to herself.
After two days, she called Zeke. He picked her up from work and they drove to a café in the city so they could sit down and have a proper conversation about it. They took a table on the sidewalk, small but well shaded by an umbrella and out of the way of foot traffic, and after telling him what she wanted, she let Zeke head inside without her to place their order. It gave her time to put her thoughts in order.
She was pretty sure she caught a glimpse of Richard on the opposite side of the street, just briefly, before he decided there were too many people around and continued on his way down the road. She couldn’t be sure, though. For all she knew, her nerves were just making her see things. Either way, it didn’t actually change her decision.
Silently, she decided not to mention the possible sighting to Zeke, though. If it was Richard, he couldn’t exactly do anything in the middle of the street in broad daylight, and she didn’t want to send Zeke into a fit when they had things they needed to actually discuss.
When Zeke came back out with his coffee, her tea, and two sandwiches, Charlie took a few sips of her drink to steady her nerves. And then, without wasting any time with small talk, she took a deep breath and stated, “I don’t want to break things off.”
Zeke stared at her, looking as if it was the exact opposite of what he had expected. It probably was the exact opposite of what he had expected. It took him only a moment to gather his bearings, though, before he shook his head slightly and asked, “You’re sure?”
Charlie nodded slowly. “I’m sure, yeah,” she confirmed, before she busied herself taking a few bites of her sandwich. When she swallowed and set it back down on her plate, she explained carefully, “I have, like, zero faith that I’d actually be safe if we broke things off.” Her shoulders lifted in a half-hearted shrug. “He wants me dead for being a threat to him getting what he wants. He knows we’re onto him now. I doubt that he would back off unless he had ironclad proof that we were done.”
Zeke nodded once, conceding the point to her without an argument. Because really, there wasn’t much of an argument when it came to ‘he wants to murder someone for money.’ (A lot of money, true, but the point still stood.)
Carrying onwards, Charlie added, “And unless you plan on just giving up and letting Richard become your dad’s heir, then all that’s going to happen if we call things off is that you’re going to get another girlfriend, and then she’s going to be in trouble.” Her nose wrinkled. “I’m not really comfortable passing the buck like that.” She shoved her hair behind her ear with one hand and rubbed the back of her head. “So… you’re stuck with me.”
(She supposed she could try to insist he let the matter go and just live with being disinherited, but pettily and vindictively, she didn’t want Richard to have a chance to get his hands on anything he wanted in life. Besides, she didn’t think Zeke knew her well enough to put that much stock in what she thought he should do.)
Zeke looked as if he was going to say something, but his mouth closed with a click and he recoiled abruptly as Charlie pointed a finger right at his nose. “But we are going to start wedding planning soon,” she commanded. “Like, immediately,” she added. “I get that it needs to be some giant to-do if anyone is going to take it seriously,” she sighed, exasperated, “but we’re still going to make it happen as soon as we feasibly can, regardless of how we need to twist the logistics.”
“I do have enough money to twist the logistics pretty far,” Zeke conceded, startled surprise melting into quiet amusement.
Charlie settled back in her seat, folding her arms over her chest as she nodded once, satisfied. “I’m glad we’re seeing eye to eye on this,” she informed him, her tone prim and proper. “I’ll have a list of requirements soon.”
Zeke brought a hand to his chest and his tone turned earnest. “I’m sure you’ll be a benevolent task master.”
Well, she would try to be, at least. On the whole, she didn’t think she had too many demands. She just knew there were a few things that she definitely wanted and a few things she definitely did not want.
Zeke seemed game enough, at least, but she supposed he knew he was in no position to protest anything.
Charlie unfolded her arms so she could turn her attention back to her tea and her sandwich, and soon enough Zeke turned his attention to his own food and coffee. They didn’t say much else, but it wasn’t a bad day, on the whole. Zeke’s presence was quiet but strangely comforting. She guessed that was a side effect of him having saved her life just a few nights ago.
Things were looking up, at least. Maybe this wasn’t the direction she had ever envisioned her life going in, but if nothing else, she could be happy in the knowledge that her father would be tearing his hair out as soon as he heard about it. Inviting him to the wedding just to see his reaction was getting more and more tempting the more she thought about it, and she smiled quietly to herself as she pondered.